one could tell, the hind claw in the embryo was opposed to the rest, and not directed forward as in the adult.
When the young leave the nest one or two are generally killed by striking the walls of the house. Sometimes, but more rarely, an old Swift is picked up stunned, but usually recovers after a time. Starlings often take possession of Swifts' nesting-places, but not without having to fight for them, and sometimes Starling and Swift will come headlong to the ground, grappling one another, in which case the Swift generally gets the worst of it.
We do not often see Swifts after the third week in August, and, though an occasional straggler may sometimes be seen as late as Sept. 1st, it is quite exceptional, and for the next eight months their dark forms and cheerful screams are absent from our skies.
